British boxing legend Nigel Benn had one of the most electrifying styles that the sport has ever seen.
Best known for his fight series with Chris Eubank, Benn is a former world champion who reached the pinnacle of the sport.
Suffering just five losses in his career, only four men have gotten the better of ‘The Dark Destroyer’. Benn suffered back-to-back losses to Steve Collins to end his career, as well as missing the mark against Thulani Malinga, Eubank, and Michael Watson.
However, following his loss to bitter rival Eubank, there was a motivation in the fighter that wasn’t fuelled by revenge.
Nigel Benn names motivating factor behind Chris Eubank loss
When Benn and Eubank met for the first time in 1990, ‘The Dark Destroyer’ was aiming to defend his WBO World Middleweight title. However, ‘Simply the Best’ went into the bout with an unbeaten 24-0 record.
Despite the fight being a close affair through eight rounds, Eubank would get the win. A TKO victory in the ninth round would make him the winner and the champion.
Although the two had a fierce rivalry, getting revenge was seemingly not the key motivator behind Benn getting back in the win column. Speaking to Up Front, Benn reveals the other aspect of encouragement he had was a financial one.
Before Benn said, “I’m not losing again mate,” he revealed that the amount of money he got paid to fight was reduced from £400,000 to £35,000. “I trained my butt off.”
“To lose that kind of money, and to lose it to him [Eubank], was hard.” However, it is likely that revenge was also a motivating factor for the British fighter.
Nigel Benn says Michael Watson loss was tougher to deal with than Chris Eubank defeat
Benn suffered the first defeat of his career to Watson when the two boxers met in 1989. When asked by Up Front if the Eubank loss was tougher to deal with than the Watson defeat due to the rivalry, Benn said it wasn’t.
“No, no, no. It wasn’t. Because I knew what defeat was like,” the former champion said.
Benn said that even though the second loss was to Eubank, he was able to look forward to a world title fight after the defeat which helped him.
Benn defeated Mauro Galvano for the WBC World Super Middleweight title in 1992, winning via retirement.